Wednesday, 10 April 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Eight people died and two sustained serious injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a 150- metre deep gorge in Nainital district in the wee hours on Tuesday. The accident occurred on Mallagaon road in Unchakot near Betalghat of Nainital when the vehicle carrying nine Nepalese besides a local driver fell into the gorge, the officials said. After receiving information about the accident, the police called the search and rescue team of the State Disaster Response Team (SDRF) to the spot.
The team found out that eight people had died at the spot while two sustained severe injuries. The team along with locals and police personnel retrieved the bodies and rushed the injured to the hospital, the officials said. They informed that all Nepalese men in the vehicle belonged to Nepal’s Mahendranagar area and were working as labourers in the construction work under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Mallagaon. They were going to Ramnagar when the accident happened. They had planned to go to Nepal from there, as per the officials. They said that the inaccessibility of the area and darkness made it quite difficult for the rescue team to conduct the search operation in the wee hours.
The deceased were identified as Vishram Chaudhary (50), Dhiraj (45), Anantram Chaudhary (40), Vinod Chaudhary (30), Udayram Chaudhary (55), Tilak Chaudhary (45) Gopal Basniyat (60) and the driver Rajendra Kumar (38). The injured were identified as Chhotu Chaudhary and Shanti Chaudhary who were later referred to the higher centre. The police informed their families about the accident. The police will hand over the bodies to the families after completing the required procedure. Talking about the cause of the accident, the officials said that it appears in the preliminary inquiry that the driver possibly lost control of the vehicle due to which it fell into the deep gorge.
The police are investigating the matter. The additional district magistrate Shiv Charan Dwivedy also visited the hospital to get the health status update of the injured. The doctors informed him that Chhotu sustained head injuries and Shanti sustained injuries on his arms and back. Both are out of danger but will remain admitted to the hospital for a few more days for their treatment. The ADM asked the doctors to provide them with the best care possible to ensure their full recovery.
